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This site is unabashedly Pro-American and Pro-Military however none of the views expressed here are to be considered as endorsed, proposed, or supported by the Department of Defense or any other Agency, government, public, or private. http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/

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SSgt Workman is featured in the Hall of Heroes and a book review on this from Marine Till Death that read it as it was written: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/shadow-of-the-sword-by-jeremiah-workman-w-john-bruning.html

http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/ssgt-jeremiah-workman-navy-cross-usmc-iraq-marion-oh.html and links to prior articles.

50 posts from October 7, 2012 - October 13, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012

China's exports increased more than expected in September, contributing to a widening trade surplus with the rest of the world.

Figures released by the government Saturday showed exports up 9.9 percent from a year earlier, despite economic problems in Europe and the United States.

China says its imports rose 2.4 percent in September, an increase from August when imports shrank from the previous month.

The government says the trade surplus in the world's second largest economy was $27.7 billion in September.

However, analysts say the outlook for China's trade remains uncertain because of the continued debt crisis in Europe and the slow economic recovery in the United States.

The U.S. government announced Friday that its deficit for the 2012 budget year that ended September 30 topped $1 trillion for the fourth straight year, although tax revenues were up 6.4 percent because of stronger growth. VoA.

Meanwhile, children in Pakistan and Afghanistan prayed for the recovery of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head and neck by the Taliban.

Malala Yousafzai was attacked on Tuesday as she left school. She has been internationally recognized for promoting education for girls and documenting Taliban atrocities in the area near her home in the northwestern Swat Valley.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has called the shooting a “crime against humanity,” and an attack on Pakistan's core moral and social values.

Yousafzai wrote under a pseudonym – Gul Makai – in a blog published by the BBC. In her blog, she described life under the Taliban in 2008 and 2009, when militants carried out beheadings and other violence in the territory they controlled — large areas of the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

A Taliban spokesman in the Swat Valley said Friday the group's leaders decided a few months ago to kill Yousafzai, and assigned gunmen to carry it out. The Taliban has said she is “pro-West,” and that she denounced the militant group. VoA.

Officials in Kenya say two explosions have occurred in a residential area of the capital, Nairobi, wounding a policeman.

Police say the blasts happened near one another in Eastleigh district a short time apart. Authorities also say they believe the first blast was intended to lure onlookers and the second explosion was meant to harm as many people as possible.

The explosions took place near a church where an explosion last month killed a child attending Sunday school.

No one has claimed responsibility.

Kenya has seen a series of attacks, some on churches, since it sent troops into Somalia last year.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has suggested the attacks are meant to spark tensions between Muslims and Christians. And he says the violence stems from terrorism, not religious conflict. VoA.

Supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi scuffled with opponents in Cairo'sTahrir Square on Friday in the worst violence since Egypt's new Islamist leader and Muslim Brotherhood member took office this year.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement and a coalition of secular leaning groups were holding separate rallies when people from each side began throwing stones at one another. The health ministry said at least 12 people were wounded.

The violence came after Mr. Morsi removed his prosecutor general from office on Thursday after a court acquitted loyalists of ousted President Hosni Mubarak of organizing a brutal attack on protesters last year.

Nancy Okail, director of Freedom House's Egypt office in Cairo, tells VOA the acquittals are causing “obvious dismay” for Mr. Morsi. But she says that does not give the president the legal authority to remove his prosecutor general.

“The president does not have the right to dismiss the public prosecutor or any legislative authority unless their is a crime or there is a low case against him. The public prosecutor can resign, but he cannot be dismissed.”

Egyptian state television said Mr. Morsi skirted the legal process by naming Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud as the country's ambassador to the Vatican.

The announcement follows activists blaming Mahmoud of presenting weak evidence that resulted in the acquittals of 24 Mubarak loyalists.

They had faced charges for organizing a notorious camel-borne assault on protesters during last year's popular uprising.

In a speech in the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday, Mr. Morsi promised to bring to justice the officials accused of organizing the killing protesters.

“We will never ignore those who committed crimes against the nation and corrupted it,” he said, according to the official MENA news agency. VoA.

Syrian rebels have clashed with government troops over control of an air defense base near the country's most populous city.

Activists say rebels attacked the air force post Friday outside Aleppo, but there are conflicting reports as to whether the rebels have taken over the base.

Fighting continued in several Syrian locales. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human rights said that six rebels were killed in an attack on a military checkpoint in Dara'a province that left 14 soldiers dead.

The group says air bombardments and heavy clashes are taking place in Idlib, Deir Ezzor and Aleppo provinces.

The activists say 260 Syrians were killed in fighting Thursday, including 86 civilians, 60 rebel fighters, 13 defected soldiers, and 92 regime forces. There was no government comment on the reports and Syria does not permit journalists to report freely in the country.

Video from inside Aleppo posted on the Internet showed friends and family members mourning loved ones as residents continued to flee from shelling. A doctor at a local hospital said his facility treats ten to 15 injured children each day, and many often end up dying from their wounds.

Meanwhile, U.N. special envoy to Syrian Lakhdar Brahimi spoke with Saudi King Abdullah about the crisis Friday. Meeting in Jeddah, the two agreed on the need to stop the bloodshed and aid the millions of Syrians affected by the violence in the country.

The talks come a day after Turkey defended its decision to intercept a Syrian-bound plane that it says was carrying military equipment and ammunition destined for Syria's government.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday the Syrian-bound passenger jet, travelling from Moscow to Damascus earlier this week, was carrying illicit cargo provided by a Russian supplier. Mr. Erdogan did not elaborate on where Turkey received the intelligence or who in Russia had provided the materials.

Syrian officials have denied the plane was carrying any military cargo. Russia, a top ally of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, demanded an explanation from Turkey, saying its actions threatened the lives and safety of the passengers on board.

The Syrian Air flight was intercepted by fighter jets late Wednesday in the Turkish capital, Ankara. The plane was allowed to complete its trip to Syria early Thursday without the cargo.

The incident has increased tensions between Turkey and Syria, countries that in recent weeks have exchanged artillery fire across their shared border. VoA.

Friday, October 12, 2012

On October 12, 2000, at 11:18 Yemeni time a boat believed by Sailors to be a garbage service boat pulled alongside the USS Cole, those aboard waving to members of the crew of the Cole, as it was being refueled in Aden.

The Al-Qaeda of Yemen terrorists aboard detonated a shape charge which killed 17 and injured 39 Sailors who had lined up for lunch inside.

Dangerous Rules of Engagement:

Petty Officer John Washak stated, in accordance with ROE, he was ordered by Senior Personnel, to point his machine gun away from a Second approaching boat. "With blood still on my face," he related: "That's the rules of engagement: no shooting unless we're shot at." He added, "In the military, it's like we're trained to hesitate now. If somebody had seen something wrong and shot, he probably would have been court-martialed." The Rules of Engagement under the Commander in Chief at the time did indeed make the US Military targets rather than allow self-preservation and self-defense.

Bill Clinton vowed: "We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable." But he did nothing more than send in an FBI team whose plane was held at gunpoint by Yemeni Special Forces and under constant threat from local islamists as well as Yemeni Forces, including using an SA-7 anti-aircraft missile system to lock onto the helicopter they were on.

Hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead gathered on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of bombings that killed 202 people.

Security was tight, with more than 2,000 police and military guarding the service after police earlier this week reported a threat of an attack on dignitaries at the event.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard led a list of dignitaries in attendance. She gave a defiant speech, saying the attack, which killed 88 Australians, did not defeat the resolve of the Australian people.

“We will never forget all that we lost. We will hold fast to that which remains: To our determination as a free people to explore the world unbowed by fear; to our resolve to defeat terrorism; and to our duty to care for each other.”

The October 2002 attacks on two Bali nightclubs were carried out by suicide bombers with the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group. It was followed by a wave of terror attacks across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, a former police chief who led the investigation, said the attack has given Indonesian authorities the “strength to fight terrorism and all other extremist activities.”

All of the leading perpetrators of the attack are thought to have been executed, killed by police, or jailed during a crackdown on Islamist militant groups in the decade following the attack.

Though the country has since seen an increase in domestic terrorism, most recent attacks have been on a smaller scale and aimed at police or government officials.

On Wednesday, police said they had uncovered “credible evidence” of a planned terror attack on dignitaries attending the Friday ceremony. The country's security was raised to its highest level ahead of the event.

Memorials were also held across Australia to mark the anniversary.VoA.

France says the U.N. Security Council will pass a resolution Friday clearing the way for military intervention in the troubled nation of Mali.

The French mission to the U.N. put out a Twitter message saying the council will adopt the resolution Friday afternoon, New York time.

French officials say the resolution will ask the West African bloc ECOWAS to present a plan within 30 days for deploying forces to Mali. The council would then have to approve the plan in a second resolution.

The west African nation was plunged into crisis in March.

The Islamist terrorists have held public executions, amputations and floggings in an effort to enforce Sharia law, drawing condemnation from the U.N. and human rights groups.

This week, a U.N. human rights official (Ivan Simonovic) said the groups are also enlisting children as soldiers and pushing women into prostitution under the guise of forced marriages.

ECOWAS has offered to send a force of about 3,000 soldiers to stabilize Mali, rebuild the country's shattered army and help drive the militants from the north.

In comments last week, France's envoy to the U.N., Gerard Araud, said the Security Council wants details on the force's composition and objectives. He said the council hopes to authorize deployment of the soldiers as soon as possible but will not give the force “carte blanche.” VoA.

Egypt's president has removed his prosecutor general from office after a court acquitted loyalists of ousted President Hosni Mubarak of organizing a brutal attack on protesters last year.

Egyptian state television announced Thursday that President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, removed General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud and named him as the country's ambassador to the Vatican.

The announcement follows activists blaming Mahmoud of presenting weak evidence that resulted in the acquittals of 24 Mubarak era officials.

They had faced charges for organizing a notorious camel-borne assault on protesters during last year's popular uprising. VoA.

Pakistani officials say a U.S. drone strike has killed at least 16 suspected militants in the country's northwest, near the Afghan border.

Officials say missiles targeted terrorists loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadurit in a compound in Orakzai tribal agency that borders North Waziristan. It was the second strike in the region in as many days. Much of Pakistan's tribal area is a known stronghold of al-Qaida and Taliban-linked militants.

Pakistan's foreign ministry lodged a protest against this week's drone strikes with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. The ministry said the strikes on Pakistani territory are “unacceptable” and a “clear violation” of international law and Pakistan's sovereignty. U.S. officials say the strikes are an important tool in defeating militants.

In the country's southwest, authorities say a bomb killed at least nine people at a market in the town of Sibi.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the group was moved to a military hospital in Rawalpindi.

Pakistani military officials say 14-year old Malala Yousufzai was airlifted from a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology. Doctors say Yousufzai is unconscious, in critical condition and has a 70 percent chance of surviving.

She was shot in the head and neck Tuesday as she left school in the northwestern Swat Valley. The Taliban said the child was targeted for being pro-West.

Pakistani officials say Yousufzai's attackers have been identified and a $100,000 reward has been offered for information leading to their arrest. The attack has drawn domestic and international condemnation.

Yousufzai is internationally recognized for documenting Taliban atrocities in the area near her home. She wrote under a pseudonym – Gul Makai – in a blog published by the BBC.

In her blog, Yousufzai described life under the Taliban in 2008 and 2009, when militants carried out beheadings and other violence in the territory they controlled – large areas of the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. VoA.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department says the number of Americans signing up for unemployment aid fell to the lowest level in more than four years.

First-time applicants fell by less than 30,000 to a nationwide total of 339,000. That means fewer people were laid off last week.

The report was better than most economists had predicted, and was in line with a recent improvement in the unemployment rate, which dropped to 7.8 percent.

Worries about jobs are the top issue in the current presidential election, so such reports are getting close scrutiny by voters and candidates.

A separate report showed the U.S. trade deficit grew by 4.1 percent in August, as the cost of imported oil rose and economic troubles in Europe and elsewhere cut demand for U.S.-made products.

That is one reason that Thursday's survey by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation predicts slowing growth for the U.S. factory sector over the next few months.

Manufacturing has been a "bright spot" in the painfully slow U.S. economic recovery. VoA.

Last week, the BLS stated that 114,000 people had found jobs last month, marking the second month (269,000 more newly unemployed than found new jobs in August) in a row that more than 200,000 more people lost their jobs than those that found a new job, while the "unemployment rate" miraculously fell a cumulative .5% in the process.

In the two months of August (269,000) and September (225,000), 494,000 more people became unemployed (365,000 + 339,000 new unemployed respectively) than found jobs (96,000 + 114,000 respectively). With an increase in the net number of unemployed, the "official unemployment rate" was lowered.

Turkish television network NTV said the confiscated materials included missile parts. The Syrian government has not commented on the incident.

Turkish military jets had forced the plane to land in the Turkish capital on suspicion that it was carrying weapons from Russia to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Russian ally. Mr. Assad has been fighting an 19-month uprising by rebels trying to end his 11-year rule.

Davutoglu said Ankara is determined to stop the flow of weapons to what he called a Syrian “regime that carries out brutal massacres” against its own people. Turkey is one of the strongest regional opponents of Mr. Assad and provides a haven to many of the rebels leading the uprising.

The Turkish foreign minister also said Ankara has banned Turkish passenger planes from entering Syrian airspace, deeming it unsafe.

Turkish troops have repeatedly shelled Syrian military targets in recent days in response to Syrian artillery that landed just inside Turkey. Turkish military chief Gen. Necdet Ozel said Wednesday that his forces will respond with “greater force” if Syrian shelling continues to spill across the border. He was speaking on a visit to the Turkish border village of Akcakale, where Syrian artillery killed five Turkish civilians last week. VoA.

Police in India say they have arrested three Islamist terrorists who were planning bomb attacks in the capital during the upcoming Hindu festival season.

New Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told reporters that three are members of the terrorist group Indian Mujahideen, which is responsible for a number of deadly attacks across India since 2005.

Police say those detained were behind a series of blasts in August in the western Indian city of Pune that wounded one person. Commissioner Kumar said a large amount of explosives were also seized during the arrests.

Indian Mujahideen is suspected in the 2010 bombing of a German bakery in Pune that killed 17 people and a 2008 blast in New Delhi that killed 30 people.

Last year, the U.S. State Department placed the group on its list of terrorist organizations. Indian Mujahideen has ties to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is responsible for the 2008 terrorist attacks on the India's financial hub, Mumbai, that killed 166 people. VoA.

The U.S. House of Representatives has started hearing testimony on the situation in Benghazi prior to the September 11 attack in which U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were murdered by Islamist Terrorists.

The hearing Wednesday, which is being held by the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, includes testimony by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, the former head of the U.S. military team in Libya, and Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy.

White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan was in Libya Wednesday to discuss investigations into the attack with Libyan leaders.

Senior State Department officials told reporters Tuesday ahead of the hearing that they never concluded the assault was part of protests against an anti-Islam video. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials also said there was “nothing unusual” at the consulate site before the attack. [The record shows this was not the case.]

The Obama administration initially linked the attack to the protests, but administration officials recently admitted it was a planned terrorist attack. The State Department is conducting its own investigation into the incident.

A memo detailing earlier testimony to a congressional investigator says Eric Nordstrom, the former chief security officer for U.S. diplomats in Libya, sent cables to Washington in March and July asking for more security officers in Benghazi, but got no response.

He said Charlene Lamb, a State Department official who is scheduled to testify Wednesday, believed the post did not need more security because it was equipped with a residential safe haven that could be used in case of emergency. [I guess the Admin believes its diplomats should retreat rather than be protected from terrorists.]

In the account given late Tuesday, the State Department officials said Ambassador Stevens, embassy officer Sean Smith and a security agent retreated to the safe haven after a large group of armed men entered the compound. [An unusually small protection team for the Senior Ambassador in an unstable country.]

The attackers set fire to furniture inside the building, filling it with smoke that later forced the three men to flee. They became separated, and security forces who arrived to assist them found only the security agent on the roof and Smith's body.

The security forces were unable to find the ambassador, and retreated with the remaining people at the compound to an annex that also came under fire before they were able to evacuate. VoA.

AFPS, WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2012 - In a statement released today, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen's accomplishments as commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama today nominated Allen to serve as NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command, succeeding Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, who's scheduled to retire.

"General John Allen took command in the summer of 2011 as we were arresting and reversing insurgent momentum in key areas throughout the country. He immediately strengthened areas of success, taking them to new levels, while identifying elements of the campaign that required revision. More important, Gen. Allen added his leadership and moral courage to a fight that is as much about will as it is about operations and tactics.

"Beyond revising the campaign plan and flawlessly executing a two-part surge recovery, John Allen's command tour has produced several key milestones, including the remarkable growth and development of the ANSF, transition in areas comprising nearly 80 percent of the Afghan population and the signing of the U.S.-Afghan strategic framework agreement. Through it all, Gen. Allen's vision has helped maintain coalition cohesion and bolstered NATO's long-term commitment to Afghanistan and the region.

"But, as John himself would tell you, much work remains to be done. Significant security, governance, and development challenges remain even as new challenges and threats emerge. That's why we have once again have turned to one of our best.

"Like Gen. Allen, Gen. Joe Dunford is one of the most experienced and capable leaders in our military and nation. I have known Joe for 14 years and have had the privilege of working closely with him both in combat and resolving the larger security challenges facing the nation.

"Intelligent and forthright, Gen. Dunford is one of our most highly-regarded senior officers. He is an infantry officer with more than 35 years of exceptional leadership at every level, including multiple commands and, in particular, command of 5th Marine Regiment during the initial invasion of Iraq.

"Clearly, Joe has the right mix of personal and professional qualities. His military expertise and high character will guide the ISAF coalition through the next critical phase. I am fully confident he is the right leader to secure an effective transition between ISAF and the Afghan National Security Forces."

"He which hath no stomach to this fight let him depart. But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers!! For he today, that sheds his blood with me, shall always be my brother.” (W.Shakespeare) Rest in peace my Brothers, you have not been forgotten.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Doctors in Pakistan have successfully removed a bullet from a 14-year-old girl shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militant group and promoting education for women.

Officials say Malala Yousufzai is in stable but critical condition after gunmen shot her in the head and neck Tuesday on her way home from school in Swat Valley. Two other girls were wounded in the attack.

Doctors at a Peshawar military hospital removed a bullet from her neck early Wednesday after she developed complications. They say she is improving but remains unconscious.

On Wednesday, the head of Pakistan's military, General Ashfaq Kayani, visited Yousufzai's hospital and condemned her attackers. He vowed to fight on against militants.

Pakistani political and religious leaders also condemned the attack, as did Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials.

Yousufzai is internationally recognized for documenting atrocities committed by the Taliban in the area near her home. She wrote under a pseudonym – Gul Makai – in a blog published by the BBC.

The girl described life under the Taliban in 2008 and 2009, when militants carried out beheadings and other violence in the territory they controlled – large areas of the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting. A Taliban spokesman said Yousufzai was “pro-West." VoA.

General Joseph Dunford Jr. has been recommended as ISAF Commander, Afghanistan.

General Dunford was promoted to General and assumed the duties of Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on 23 October 2010. A native of Boston, Massachusetts, General Dunford graduated from St. Michael’s College and was commissioned in 1977.

General Dunford’s assignments in the operating forces include Platoon and Company Commander, Co K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines; Company Commander, Co A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines; and Company Commander, Co L, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. He served as the Operations, Plans, and Training Officer in 2d ANGLICO and the Regimental Executive Officer, 6th Marines. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines and the 5th Marine Regiment. He served as the Chief of Staff, 1st Marine Division.

Other assignments include Aide to the Commanding General, III MEF and a tour in the Officer Assignment Branch, HQMC. He has also served as the Marine Officer Instructor, College of the Holy Cross; as a member of the Commandant's Staff Group; and as the Senior Aide to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Joint assignments include service as the Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman, JCS; Chief, Global and Multilateral Affairs Division (J5); and Vice Director for Operations (J3).

As a general officer, he has served as the Assistant Division Commander, 1st Marine Division; the Director, Operations Division, Plans, Policies and Operations, HQMC; and the Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations; and most recently as Commanding General, I MEF and Commander, Marine Forces Central Command.

General Dunford is a graduate of the U. S. Army Ranger School, Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, and the U. S. Army War College. He holds an M.A. in Government from Georgetown University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Panetta told NATO defense ministers in Brussels whatever the motives behind the attacks, the enemy is using them to “drive a wedge” between Afghan and coalition partners. The defense secretary said NATO can deny the enemy its goal only by using all of its ability to counter the attacks.

More than 52 coalition personnel have been killed by their Afghan counterparts this year.

Separately, officials at the Brussels meeting are expected to name NATO's top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, the coalition's new supreme commander.

Assistant U.S. Marine commandant General Joseph Dunford will take over the post in Afghanistan.

Many have expressed concern that the current Presidential campaign has been devoid of National Security/Foreign Policy issues, myself included. I've said very little about Romney, because he has previously said very little about National Defense. I've picked up a few encouraging snippets in the last few weeks, but finally he has added some substance, on the topic Obama considers his strong suit.

"Hope is not a strategy." Romney is not the first I've heard say that. My old team Sergeant said it on a regular basis, when he felt complacency was setting in, when he thought someone wasn't planning or preparing properly, when someone forgot to plan. He was right "Hope is NOT a strategy." You can't just hope the right supplies and equipment will be available when you need it, where you need it, or that the other units involved are on the same sheet of music. You have to have a plan and you have to have thought out all the details of that plan, including what the enemy may do in response to your moves.

Romney is right. Hope is not a strategy. You have to have a plan for how to help your friends, and how to defeat your enemy.

Romney has pledged to roll back the Obama cuts to the Troops, to the restore the Navy from its current 1916 strengths. He has pledged to lead the Free World, not just hope others will do the right thing. He stated his recognition that a strong military prevents war, and that the world is more dangerous today than it was in 2008.

He noted that our Friends, our Allies, want American leadership, that the people of the Middle East, and the world want the Freedoms we have here. He pointed out that Libyans rejected the presence of the Islamist terrorists that had killed our diplomats, from remaining in their midst.

In the short 22 minutes of Romney's speech he points out many failures of the current Administration, such as Obama's silence when the Iranian people risked, and sacrificed their lives, in hopes that the world would help them overthrow their tyrannical regime, in 2009.

And when the civilian fatalities stood at half of the now 30,000, Obama sent Panetta & General Dempsey to Congress where his Secretary of Defense stated he would not get Congressional permission to go to war in Syria, but would wait on UN or NATO approval, despite the Constitution. And when the civilian fatalities stood at 1/3rd, the Administration said they didn't know who the rebels were, even after a year of combat. Now, al-Qaeda has made inroads, along with Hamas into the Syrian Civil War against Bashar Assad, his Russian and Communist Chinese allies, his Iranian allies, and their Hezbollah underlings. Lost in the crossfire are Syrians, who want Freedom, and democracy.

Though the Obama Administration denied the obvious for weeks, it has finally admitted that the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi was the work of Al-Qaeda, or at least its Islamist allies, and not just an overreaction to a two bit video no one had heard of or would have heard of, if it hadn't of been for the attack on our Embassy in Cairo. In fact, the attack on the Embassy in Cairo was advertised and supported by the Islamist Nour Party there, an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood ruling party, and the attack on the Consulate in Benghazi appears to have been led by a terrorist released prematurely from GITMO, and directed to occur by Al-Qaeda's leader, al-Zawahari.

And the attack came days before Obama announced he was releasing a 1/3rd of the remaining terrorists left at GITMO, and turning over the terrorists at Bagram, along with the prison to Afghanistan.

The Romney speech comes on the heels of Lara Logan's speech to the Better Governance Association in Chicago, where she told them that Islamism, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda have grown stronger in the last few years (of the Obama Administration). She knows. She's been there. She was in the middle of the events in Cairo, and has the lumps to prove it. She has interviewed General Allen, President Karzai, and members of the Taliban. She wore no scarf with Karzai or Allen, semi-covered her hair with Karzai's underlings, and had to scarf the camera as well with the Taliban.

We now know there were many Islamists in that crowd that day.

Obama has abandoned the Middle East, and Latin America, while ignoring Africa, while ordering the Military to focus instead on the vast ocean of the Pacific, with fewer Troops. His Administration pulled back on security forces in Libya, when his Ambassador there asked for more, and intelligence noted a pending attack. And the Marine response team that should have been on a moment's notice, was days away. His Ambassador, OUR Ambassador there was murdered as a result. Yes, it is the fault of the Islamist Terrorists that conducted the attacks, but it is the Administration which is to blame for ignoring the intelligence and the requests of the Ambassador on the ground.

Romney has struck a stark difference between his policies in Foreign Affairs and the current Administration's. Romney says he won't publish an enemy emboldening timeline of retreat, but will instead use the Diplomacy of Strength. He won't abandon allies, or back down from enemies, but instead ensure that allies and enemies alike will know we mean what we say, and have the means to back it up, and the will to do so.

Romney has said he won't allow America to be tossed about on the waves of world events, but will lead from the front, and shape those events.

I'm not necessarily excited about Romney but I am impressed with his speech. And I'm glad he has finally stated some positions on National Security and Foreign Policy. I will hold him to those words if he wins, just as I have pointed out that Obama's were empty when he said "Afghanistan would be his top priority," in the 2008 campaign.

It is time to turn the tide back in the favor of Freedom, and to push the rise of Islamism back on its heels.

Ghazni ProvinceAfghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Andar District.

Khowst ProvinceAfghan Border Police and coalition forces detained three insurgents while investigating an IED in Terezayi District. The IED was safely cleared and the detained suspects were transferred to a base forquestioning.

Afghan Uniformed Police and coalition forces discovered a weapons cache in Shamal District. The cache contained a sniper rifle, four rocket-propelled grenades and their launcher, small arms and ammunition, three land mines, and copper wire.

Logar ProvinceAfghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared three IEDs, one in Baraki Barak District and three in Pul-E Alam District.

Paktika ProvinceA coalition airstrike killed three insurgents in Giyan District in response to Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces receiving small arms and indirect fire.

Wardak ProvinceAfghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces found and safely cleared three IEDs in Nerkh District.

Afghan National Army soldiers killed three insurgents, wounded one and detained one during an engagement in Maidan Shahr District. The wounded received medical care and was then transferred, along with the detained, to a base for questioning.

Recruiting. Five of the six reserve components met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal 2012, through August. The Army Reserve is down 567 for the year; this was intentional as they work to rebalance the force.

Army National Guard - 44,067 accessions, with a goal of 42,503; 104 percent

A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced 22 people to lengthy prison terms for assisting Iran in allegedly plotting terrorist attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in the country.

The defendants received sentences Tuesday ranging from 10 to 15 years after authorities accused them of planning attacks in cooperation with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Targets for the attack were to include the U.S. and Israeli embassies.

Authorities said the defendants had received weapons and training after being recruited, beginning in 1999.

Azerbaijan revealed the allegations and arrests in March.

The Iranian government has not commented on the sentencing.

Iran has a large ethnic Azeri minority and is apprehensive of Azerbaijan's influence over it. Relations between the neighboring countries have been strained over a number of issues. VoA.

North Korea is warning that its rockets are capable of striking the continental United States, two days after Seoul said it signed a deal with Washington to allow South Korea to extend the range of its ballistic missiles.

A spokesperson for the North's National Defense Commission said in state media Tuesday Pyongyang has “strategic rocket forces” that can hit not only the mainland U.S., but also American military bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam.

North Korea is believed to be developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, but they have not been tested successfully. While Pyongyang does have the capability to strike South Korea and other nearby countries, experts say it could not strike the U.S. mainland.

It is Pyongyang's first public reaction to the deal announced Sunday in Seoul between the U.S. and South Korea, which nearly tripled the range of Seoul's missile system to protect against a possible attack from the nuclear-armed North.

South Korean officials say the new deal allows South Korea to extend the maximum range of ballistic missiles from the current 300 kilometers to 800 kilometers, which would give it the range to hit all of North Korea. The 300-kilometer limit was part of a 2001 accord with the United States.

Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency quoted the spokesperson as saying that the deal shows the U.S. and its allies are plotting to “ignite a war” against the North. He said Pyongyang is ready to match any enemy “nuclear for nuclear, missile for missile.” KCNA regularly publishes inflammatory and threatening material directed against the U.S. and South Korea.

North Korea is under heavy United Nations sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs. In April, it conducted a failed rocket launch that it said was aimed at putting a satellite into orbit. Seoul and the U.S. say the launch was a disguised long-range missile test. VoA.

Gunmen in Pakistan have shot and wounded a 14-year-old child activist internationally recognized for speaking out against the Taliban.

Malala Yousufzai was shot twice while getting onto her school bus in Swat Valley Tuesday. At least one other girl was wounded in the attack. Witnesses told police that the gunmen arrived at the school and asked for her by name before opening fire.

Doctors say her injuries are not life threatening.

Yousufzai has been honored for documenting atrocities committed by the Taliban in the region. VoA.

Gunmen in Pakistan have shot and wounded a 14-year-old child activist internationally recognized for speaking out against the Taliban.

Malala Yousufzai was shot twice while getting onto her school bus in Swat Valley Tuesday. At least one other girl was wounded in the attack. Witnesses told police that the gunmen arrived at the school and asked for her by name before opening fire.

Doctors say her injuries are not life threatening.

Yousufzai has been honored for documenting atrocities committed by the Taliban in the region. VoA.

The statement said the two sides initially discussed the deals as early as last April during Iraqi delegation visits that included Defense Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi. The Iraqi delegation also visited Russia in July and August. VoA.

Somali terrorist group al-Shabab has banned an aid group from the shrinking but still significant area under its control.

The militants said in a series of Twitter messages Monday that they have revoked permits for London-based Islamic Relief. Al-Shabab said the aid group was “covertly extending the operations” of other organizations it has banned, particularly the United Nations World Food Program.

In a statement, Islamic Relief said it has not been officially notified of any decision to revoke its license. It said none of its programs are funded by the WFP.

After losing the port city of Kismayo last week, al-Shabab no longer controls any major towns in Somalia, but it continues to hold rural areas and roads that connect population centers.

African Union forces fighting the militants said Sunday that they and Somali government troops had captured the town of Wanla Weyn from al-Shabab and secured a nearby airbase.

The AU force said it has begun an offensive aimed at clearing al-Shabab from the area between Afgooye, west of Mogadishu, and the town of Baidoa.

Al-Shabab, which has an alliance with al-Qaida, once controlled most of southern and central Somalia and imposed Sharia law on the population. But over the past two years, the group has lost much of its territory to combined AU, Kenyan, Ethiopian and Somali government forces. VoA.

A U.S. security institute that advises Washington policy makers says Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb in as little as two months from now, but would need additional time to make the device itself.

In a report issued Monday, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said Iran has the capacity to produce 25 kilograms of highly enriched uranium needed for the core of a nuclear warhead in two to four months. Iran has thousands of centrifuges enriching uranium at its main plant in Natanz and hundreds of other centrifuges operating at its Fordo facility, located under a mountain to shield it from air attacks.

The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its nuclear program is designed only for peaceful uses.

The ISIS report did not say whether Iran has decided to convert its enriched uranium into a nuclear bomb. It said that if Iran were to attempt such a step, it would need more time to finish the job, “despite work it may have done in the past.”

ISIS said Iran would need “many additional months to manufacture a nuclear device suitable for underground testing, and even longer to make a reliable warhead for a ballistic missile.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Iran could reach the stage of producing weapons-grade uranium by the middle of next year, at current enrichment rates. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he said that once Iran begins what he called the “final” enrichment stage, it would be only a few weeks or months until Iran has sufficient enriched uranium for its first bomb.

Mr. Netanyahu used the speech to reiterate his view that an Iranian advance to producing weapons-grade uranium is a “red line” that the international community must warn Tehran not to cross.

Barack Obama told the General Assembly that the United States will do what it “must” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he has refused to set a “red line” for Iran, insisting there still is time for diplomacy and sanctions to pressure Iran into stopping its enrichment work. VoA.

The non-profit group says the government in Kabul could collapse, especially if the next round of the country's elections is fraudulent. In 2009 and 2010, the country suffered chaotic presidential and parliamentary polls.

An ICG report published Monday said in the current environment, the prospects for clean elections and a smooth transition of power are slim. It also said it expects political cohesion in the capital to decline as foreign aid and investment goes down with the approach of the 2014 drawdown.

The Brussels-based group recommends the international community have a contingency plan to ensure adequate security for Afghanistan's 2014 presidential campaign. It also urges Afghan election officials and lawmakers to be transparent and settle election-process issues ahead of the polls.

Kabul Police Chief General Mohammed Ayub Salangi tells VOA that he finds the report “completely baseless” and that the Afghan security forces will be ready to take responsibility from the coalition.

The report follows a car bomb attack near a security forces office in southern Afghanistan, that killed two intelligence officers and wounded four civilians.

Separately, the outgoing head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan says the country's armed conflict has worsened for civilians.

Reto Stocker is leaving Afghanistan after seven years in his current position. In a news release, he deplored the continued lack of access to health care for civilians. He also said alongside the ill effects of the armed conflict, civilians are suffering from economic hardship, as well as severe weather and natural disasters.

Despite the challenges, Stocker said his group has made some progress in raising its concerns with various parties in the conflict, who he said have shown a greater willingness to listen and follow certain recommendations. VoA.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he would be strong on foreign policy, and he accuses President Barack Obama of being a weak leader, especially with regard to the Middle East.

In his first major foreign policy speech of the campaign Monday, Mr. Romney said that under President Obama, the United States is at the mercy of events rather than using what the challenger called its great power to shape events.

He accused the president of failing to lead in Syria, called the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Iraq “abrupt,” and said the United States and Israel are growing apart, which has emboldened Iran.

In the 30-minute address at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, the Republican presidential nominee accused Mr. Obama of seeking to put “daylight” between the United States and Israel. This, he said, has “set back to hope of peace in the Middle East and emboldened our mutual adversaries, especially Iran.”

He said that, if he is elected, he will “put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability.” He added that he would not hesitate to impose new sanctions on Iran and will restore the “permanent presence “of aircraft carrier task forces in the Eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.

He also called the Obama administration's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 a “politically timed retreat,” but gave no indication he would change that timetable if elected president.

Mr. Romney also promised to “recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security” with Israel.

Mr. Romney also accused President Obama of failing to lead in Syria, saying the conflict there threatens stability in the region. He said, as president, he would help those members of the Syrian opposition “who share our values” obtain arms.

The risk of conflict in the Middle East, he said, “is higher now than when the president took office,” declaring that it is “time to change course” in the region.

Mr. Romney also said there will be no flexibility with Russia on missile defense in Europe.

With the election one month away, the latest polls show the two candidates virtually tied. Mr. Romney caught up after last week's first presidential debate, which focused on domestic policy. Analysts say Mr. Romney was better prepared and that the president gave a lethargic performance. VoA.

The International Monetary Fund is cutting its prediction for global economic expansion this year, and the fund's experts say the risks of serious economic problems are growing.

The World Economic Outlook is being published ahead of meetings of key financial officials from around the world in Tokyo this week. It says global growth will slow to just a 3.3 percent annual rate this year, with advanced nations expanding more slowly and emerging markets making faster gains.

The authors warn that things could be worse if Washington or Europe fail to cope with political and financial problems promptly and effectively.

The study predicts U.S. growth will be just 2.2 percent this year, slower than the world average.

Among the nations that use the euro, the overall economy is expected to shrink by four-tenths of one percent this year, and will improve in 2013.

Developing nations in Asia are predicted to grow at an average pace of 6.7 percent this year, and faster next year. VoA.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has issued a decree granting a pardon to Egyptians who were detained or convicted for acts linked to the 2011 revolution that ousted his longtime predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

In the decree posted on his Facebook page late Monday, Mr. Morsi said the pardon covers crimes “committed with the aim of supporting the revolution” from January 25, 2011, when the uprising began, to June 30, 2012, when he took office.

Mr. Morsi said Egyptians facing trial and those already serving prison sentences for such crimes will be eligible for release. He said the amnesty excludes people charged with or convicted of murder.

The presidential decree said Egypt's attorney general and military prosecutor have one month to compile and publish a list of people included in the amnesty. But Mr. Morsi did not say how many people will be pardoned or when they will be freed. He also did not define the specific offenses to be pardoned.

"Youth groups" that led the Egyptian revolution have long demanded that authorities drop charges against and release thousands of fellow activists detained in Mr. Mubarak's crackdown on the uprising and in the 18 months of military rule that followed. Many were convicted of thuggery, damaging public property, resisting authorities and disrupting public order.

Mr. Morsi already has pardoned several hundred civilians convicted in military tribunals of involvement in the recent unrest. He had been under pressure to deliver on his promise of building on the revolution in the runup to his 100th day in office, which he marked on Sunday. VoA.

Monday, October 08, 2012

Libyan lawmakers have fired their new interim prime minister by voting no confidence in his proposed Cabinet, prolonging the struggle to form a government capable of uniting and stabilizing the war-torn nation.

Libya's General National Congress rejected Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur's Cabinet lineup Sunday by a vote of 125-44 with several abstentions, resulting in his removal from office. He had offered lawmakers a lineup of 10 ministers, scaled down from his original list of 29 ministries, proposed last week.

The assembly elected Abushagur to the prime minister's post last month, giving him a deadline of several weeks to form a government. His scrapped his original Cabinet list last Thursday after more than 100 protesters from the western town of Zawiya stormed into the chamber to complain that their community was not adequately represented.

Speaking Sunday, Abushagur acknowledged that his first Cabinet lineup had mistakes. But he said lawmakers should have worked with him to modify it. Under Libyan law, the General National Congress must elect a new prime minister to form a government in the coming weeks.

Libya's tribes and regions remain highly polarized following the 2011 civil war that ended the four-decade rule of Moammar Gadhafi. Residents of Zawiya and other regions battered by Gadhafi's attacks during the conflict have demanded high-level positions in Libya's post-war government, leading to friction among rival communities.

Libya's next interim administration also faces the challenge of trying to disarm and demobilize militias that maintain control over parts of the country following their participation in the revolution. VoA.

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